A Good Cooker - Memory Lane Revisited

I pack my kids’ lunches and have for years because a hot school lunch just isn’t what it used to be.  While a few places are striving to make healthier options available, far too many are packed with preprocessed, prepackaged salt, fat, and crap.  (Have you seen the pink slime/school lunch story in the news lately?)  Alas, it seems there is little to no cooking involved in this heat and eat school lunch world.  

But…it wasn’t always like this.

I grew up in Columbus, Ohio and my small Catholic elementary school was treated to delicious lunches every day by a stout, happy German woman with large arms and an even larger bosom.  I don’t remember her name, but I will never forget the love with which she prepared our food…nor will I lose the memory of this one particular German dish she used to make.  

It was simple fodder – indeed it only had three ingredients – but even the most hardcore veggie hater loved it and begged for seconds.  I’m not sure of its proper name, but I found this scrumptious one pot meal on numerous German recipe websites.  They all call it the same thing I do – German green beans, potatoes, and ham. 

On Sunday, I cooked a ham – the last white-paper-wrapped package of the half-hog I purchased last spring from a local family farm – Three Sisters Beef – to clear out the deep freeze in preps for this year’s bounty.  I intended to make bean soup with the stock I made from the bone but opted to make this quick, easy, and delicious much loved dish instead.

Presenting…German green beans, potatoes, and ham!

Ingredients

-6 cups of ham stock (in enough water to cover, simmer the bone and any odd bits left after carving over low heat for 6-8 hours, strain, chill, and remove congealed surface fat.  Add additional water as necessary to make 6 cups.  Salt may be added to suit personal taste, but I find the sodium in the ham to be sufficient)

-3 lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed but unpeeled, cut into 1” chunks

-2 lbs frozen green beans

-10 ounces chunked ham

Instructions

In 6qt. pot, in order, add stock, potatoes, frozen green beans, and ham.  (Really – just pile it in and turn on the burner.)  Bring to simmer over high heat.  Stir gently to evenly distribute ingredients.  Cover.  Reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Serve in bowls with a scoop of broth.  Eat.  Repeat as necessary.   

      

The recipe may seem like it makes a lot, but my family of four can pretty much polish it off in one sitting with maybe a bowl or two left for lunch the next day.  Try it and I’ll bet even your pickiest of pickies will love it. 

If anyone comes up with the real German name, I’d like to know.   And, if anyone can remember our wonderful lunch lady’s name…I’d love that information as well.   

Rival Roaster Rules!

I’ve always wanted a kitchen with two ovens – or, two ovens in my kitchen.  Whichever.  I find it frustrating when I have to remove the roast to put the side dishes back in my single oven or take out the lasagna to bake the bread...and so on.  Until I get a spare 10 grand to remodel the eatery – 20 if I get the custom granite countertops I saw at IKEA - it ain’t gonna happen.

 

In the meantime, my 12yo daughter has inadvertently come up with a temporary solution to the problem.  On Christmas morning this year she proudly slid the biggest box under the tree over to me.  She said she saved her money to buy something “that I really needed.”  Inside, I was surprised to find a 22 quart Rival brand roaster oven.  My grandmothers each had one, and my mother too – but me?  I hadn't even considered owning one.

But, now that I too had one, I used it.  For New Year’s Day, I loaded it up with a big brined turkey (1c salt/2gal water/12hours).  The instructions said to cook it for 13-19 minutes per pound at 375 degrees.  For my 16-pounder, this meant it would be done in as little as 3.5 hours or as long as 6.  I decided to compromise and check it at 4.  I was shocked to find it done – maybe even a little too done, as the upper parts of the legs looked a little crisp.  Nevertheless, the skin was golden hued and the meat was as tender and juicy as any turkey I’d ever cooked before – in far less time.

A few weeks later, I brined a 5lb local family farm raised pork shoulder roast (.25c salt/2qt water/2 hours) and roasted it at 350 degrees at 25-30 minutes a pound.  Again – done in record time, tender and juicy.  For the final test, I set one of my local family farm raised, grass fed beef roasts I’d coated with fresh ground black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder on the rack and added a cup of red wine to the bottom of the roaster.  Not only did it produce a tender juicy result but also gave me a cup of tasty pan drippings for a fine gravy.  I was amazed.

Now, I wanted to try poultry again – without nearly overcooking it - so I brined a whole chicken (1c salt/1 gal water/1 hour) and rubbed it with softened butter and chopped fresh sage (2T butter/1T sage) from my Aerogarden.  On a whim, I added 1c of white wine to the bottom of the roaster as well.  An hour later (15mins/pound at 350 degrees) – just one measly hour - I had a roast chicken Betty Crocker would be proud of.  The skin wasn’t as golden as I would have liked – I blame the steam from the wine, but the pan drippings were richly flavored and made the most delicious gravy (and, maybe it's bad, but I used some of the butter and chicken fat from my drippings to roast the locally grown blue potatoes I served alongside the chicken - they were amazing!).

Now, I still want to redo my kitchen – gas cooktop, revamped pantry, new and improved vent fan so I don’t set off the smoke detector when I use the broiler - but I’m completely sold on my roaster.  It remains unRivaled.